The renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system in cerebral small vessel disease

Introduction Cerebral small vessel disease (SVD) appears on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as leukoaraiosis (LA), etat crible (EC), and multiple lacunar infarctions (MLI). Although the pathophysiology of SVD is poorly understood, there is evidence of a genetic contribution. We sought to analyze the influence of the reninangiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) on SVD in symptomatic patients from the Genetique de l’Infarctus Cerebral (GENIC) study, including RAAS polymorphisms and circulating angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE).